by K. I. Lynn
He nodded, then looked back down to Lila and licked his lips. “Is there anything else you’d like?”
I couldn’t take any more. I grabbed her chin and turned her to me, kissing her so hard our teeth hit. She gasped before melting, like always.
“That’s all.” I held out the wine list for him, Lila’s hair still tangled in my fingers.
He gave me a tight smile as he took it and left.
Lila looked at me, her brow quirked as she sat back.
“What? He was too friendly with you.”
She pursed her lips. “He was being polite.”
“He was flirting.”
She leaned forward and nipped at my bottom lip. “So possessive.”
“Damn straight.”
She smiled and shook her head. “I’m your wife. Taken.”
I took her hand in mine. “Yes, but fuckers like to look and salivate and think about screwing you. That pisses me off. You’re mine. I need to hurry up and get you pregnant. Then everyone will see what I do to you.”
My cock twitched, reminding me it wanted another go at knocking her up.
She ran her hand up my leg, her fingertips brushing my cock. “You’ll get a chance to fill me after dinner.”
Our waiter returned with the bottle I ordered and poured two glasses. He kept his eyes off Lila. We placed our order and happily munched on some bread while we drank.
Dinner was perfect. My stomach was filled with the most delicious and perfectly cooked steak I’d ever eaten. I rubbed my stomach, patting it.
“That was the best steak ever, and I’ve been here before.”
“I hope you saved room for dessert.” Lila stretched her hand out to me, and I slipped mine over hers.
“You’ll probably need to give me and hour or so and then I’ll be up for it.”
She let out a small chuckle. “I was talking about the sweet pastry kind.”
“You can eat more?” She’d devoured her steak just as I had.
She frowned at the thought. “Well…”
The waiter stopped by, but instead of asking if we needed anything, he set a cake covered in candles on the table in front of me.
Lila smiled at me. “Happy birthday.”
I stared at her for a moment, then my eyes moved down to the cake. Yes, it was my birthday dinner—May 30th. I’d agreed to celebrate it this year as a way of moving on. It was a little easier, because the one I hated to think about was on a different date, a date I’d never forget—June 21st.
It was the first time I’d celebrated my birthday in five years. I was trapped between moving forward and being stuck in the past. The candles flickered at me, waiting. That was the signal that jostled me to the present, and I thought about the wish I would make.
The year started out terrible and ended up beautiful—Lila and I were married.
But we still had one more obstacle that was looming over us, and it was hovering much closer than I liked.
I took a deep breath and blew out.
I wish that I can keep Lila safe, that she will be free from danger.
In one breath, all the candles were extinguished and my wish was out into the cosmos. I didn’t really believe, but it couldn’t hurt. We needed all the help we could get.
The cake was white almond with buttercream icing—my favorite.
“You got this from that cake place in Noblesville, the one we went to last fall.” She nodded, and I moaned as I took another bite. Yes, I was full, but nothing was going to stop me from eating the best cake I’d ever tasted. “When did you sneak this?”
“Sarah picked it up for me and delivered it to the restaurant.”
I chuckled. “Conspiring with my mother now.”
“You do it all the time.”
“Yes, but she’s my mother.”
She swiped her finger across the icing and stuck it in her mouth, sucking it off. Suddenly the best place for the icing wasn’t in my stomach, but on my cock.
“Well, it’s hard to surprise my caveman husband who can’t stand an hour without me.”
I gave her a pout. “Makes me sound like a dependent pussy.”
She laughed and patted my hand. “Dependent? Yes. Pussy? Hell no. You can be a controlling asshole… You’re so possessive of me.”
“Because you’re mine.”
She bit her bottom lip and smiled. “Because I’m yours.”
I leaned forward and kissed her, savoring the taste of her mixed with the buttercream frosting. When I sat back, my eye caught a familiar onlooker staring at us. I’d seen him before, but had no clue who he was. That didn’t matter, because I knew why he was there.
“Where are you going?” I asked as she moved to stand.
She smiled down at me. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to the ladies’ room.”
I nodded, watching her go as I finished up the last bite of cake. I was mid-sip when my stalker sat down in front of me, a smile on his face. “Hello, Mr. Thorne. How’s your driving these days?”
The blood drained from my face as I remembered why he was so familiar—he held the gun in the car that ran us off the road.
It took every ounce of will in me to keep my reactions cool and calm, but inside I was trying to keep the anxiety from exploding, though anger and fear prevailed. My hands twitched, begging to wrap around his throat and choke the life out of him.
Dead men couldn’t talk.
I would do anything to keep her safe.
“Get the fuck out of here.” The words barely made it past my clenched teeth.
He wasn’t even fazed. “Getting rid of me won’t stop him.”
Fuck. How could I be so stupid? I’d relaxed, taken a breath and enjoyed the moment, and gotten comfortable with a deadly man so close.
“Why are you here, talking to me?”
He smirked. “How’s your wife?” Hatred flamed in me, my muscles flexing and ready to destroy. His smile broadened. “Mr. Marconi would like to congratulate you on your marriage.” His gaze flickered over to the restroom entry. “She’s beautiful.”
My teeth clenched tight, and my whole body vibrated. “Don’t you fucking touch her.”
He laughed as he stood and walked away just as Lila returned. Her gaze moved to him and then to me.
“Nate? What’s wrong?” Her hand reached out to touch me, and I shot up from my seat.
I ran to the door. He hadn’t gotten far—just a few steps ahead of me. It only took a few strides for me to catch up to him.
He turned just as my fist collided with his face, knocking him back against the brick wall. I didn’t waste a second before hitting him again.
His skull was hard, splitting my skin.
Beat him bloody.
Beat him dead.
Protect Lila.
The surprise wore off and his fist swung forward, connecting with my ribs. All breath left me as pain flooded in, giving him the opening to smash my face. My vision blurred, and he hit me again.
Lila screamed in the background, and I swung out, hoping to strike. My hand scraped against the brick before connecting with the side of his head. He stumbled back, and we both got a moment to catch our breath. He cursed when he noticed the crowd around us.
He spit the blood that filled his mouth out onto the ground and glared at me. “You knew, Thorne. I’ll let Vincent know you said hello.”
Before I could get to him, a car pulled up and he got in just as Lila grabbed hold of my arm. I watched them tear down the street and out of sight.
I grimaced in pain, bending over as the adrenaline started to wear off and the effect of his hits settled in. When I turned, Lila was staring at me, eyes wide in shock. I stepped forward and scooped her up in my arms.
“I won’t let them hurt you. I’ll protect you.”
She nodded against me, her hands fisting into my shirt.
Murmurs from the gathered crowd brought me back. With her close, we headed back toward the restaurant. The manager gave me a dirty look and blocke
d the doorway, but I shut him down from speaking when I pulled out my wallet. I slapped three one hundred-dollar bills into his hand and continued walking.
“Should we call someone?” Lila asked as we headed home.
I couldn’t stop scanning the street, waiting for someone to pop out at us. “Who could we trust?”
The list was short, and possibly getting shorter.
CHAPTER 22
The event alarm pinged on my computer, opening a window in the middle of my document. I cracked my neck, stretching it out. I’d been staring at my screen for more than two hours without moving and was happy for the distraction of the end of the workday.
I saved my progress and shut my computer down. There wasn’t much time, and we needed to get going. I slipped my jacket back on and grabbed my phone before heading out the door, locking it behind me.
A few feet later, I popped my head into Lila’s office. “Are you ready?” It was almost five-thirty, and she had an appointment with Darren in half an hour. It would take nearly that long with traffic to get there. “Honeybear?”
Both Lila and Owen failed to acknowledge my presence, still typing away. I shook my head and sighed.
“Yo! Wife of mine, come on.”
Her head snapped up, eyes blinking in confusion. “Fuck,” she hissed as she noticed the time. “Give me a sec.”
“It’s never a sec in this black hole.”
She held her finger up, not even looking at me anymore. I licked my lips, thinking about giving her a little spanking for that later.
Leaning against the door frame, waiting, I took a good look around the room. It wasn’t my first view since I’d vacated it months ago, but it was broken in with Owen. Not much had changed, with the exception of Owen and his personal belongings. A photo of him and his girlfriend sat next to his monitor along with a Scooby-Doo figure.
Any trace of the nearly one year I’d spent there was gone. I kind of missed that time—missed being so close to her.
She closed up the file in front of her and played with her computer before shutting it down. There was a frazzled edge to her as she located her purse and stood to face me.
“Okay, ready.”
She stepped toward me, and I grabbed her face, pulling it close as I licked her lips and kissed her. When I pulled back, her lids were heavy and she was leaning into me.
I grabbed her hand and started down the hall. She pouted.
“That was mean.”
My lip twitched. “What?”
“You know what, mister.”
We stopped at the elevator bay and pressed the button. I leaned down, kissing her neck as I squeezed her ass.
“Just wanted to show you how much I missed you.”
The moment of fun was just what I needed at the end of a long day.
During the drive, she took my right hand in hers, placing kisses on my busted-up knuckles. She swiped her fingers across mine, soothing us both.
I’d gotten a good five or six punches in on the bastard, but he matched me. The hit to the brick wall behind him had me hurting the worst.
As we pulled up to Darren’s office, three police cars sat outside with their lights flashing. Red and blue lights bounced off the building.
My stomach dropped out, and I grabbed for Lila’s hand, encasing it in mine. We walked up to the office and found Darren standing outside talking to an officer. His eyes widened, only for a second, but it was enough that I noticed.
“Darren, what’s going on?” I asked as we approached.
He spoke to the officer and turned toward us. “Someone broke into my office over lunch.”
Lila’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Did they take anything?”
His gaze flickered away from mine. “No.”
I didn’t believe him. I’d known him long enough. His poker face wasn’t that good.
“What did they take?”
He pursed his lips and looked between Lila and me, then let out a long breath. “They took your file…and Lila’s.”
Dread washed over me. “Is that all?” I needed to know the answer. Needed to know that it was just a break-in for files and not mine specifically, because I knew who it was.
“They only took yours and Lila’s.”
I cursed under my breath, my hand tightening around Lila’s as the world began to crash around me. This couldn’t be happening—not again. Maybe he’d been right. Maybe I should have listened closer. Maybe I should have run with Lila when he sat down next to me at the restaurant.
They were coming back. They were going to kill us, and every fear I’d had since I met her, since I met my Lila, washed over me, enveloping me. My hands began to shake—something that Darren noticed.
“You have to stay calm. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew this would happen.”
“Of course it was going to happen.” My stomach turned, and I pulled Lila close to me, my arms wrapping around her as my body bent in on itself.
Her hands ran soothing circles up and down my back, her nails digging in slightly, scratching. The small bit of pain reminded me she was there.
Darren put his hand on my shoulder. “Take a deep breath.” I took in as much air as I could and slowly let it out. “Lila, could you go inside and get a bottle of water from the vending machine down the hall?”
I reached out as she walked away and grabbed onto her arm. “No.”
Darren placed his hand on mine and waved an officer over. “Can you escort her inside to the break room for me?”
Lila caressed my face. “I’ll be right back.”
I whimpered as she walked away, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her. “How did they know to come here?”
Darren sighed. “I don’t know, but I think it’s obvious they’re tailing you again.”
My head snapped to him. “You think?” I flashed my busted up knuckles at him. “Every fucking place I go.”
He cursed under his breath, eyes wide as he stared at my hand. “When?”
“My birthday.”
“Have you thought about hiring a bodyguard or getting police protection?”
I shook my head. “Police are in on it, and what the hell is a body guard going to do against them?”
“Protect you.”
My jaw twitched. “How the hell will one guy, or even five guys, be able to protect us round the clock for the rest of our lives?”
Anger built up, and the urge to punch something skyrocketed, but there was nothing to hit. I exploded, yelling out and up to the heavens.
“There has to be something.”
I was breathing hard, tears filling my eyes. “There’s only one thing. I’m dead, but I can still protect Lila.”
Devastation.
The email said it all—bang! You’re dead.
I couldn’t stop staring at the screen, at the photos of Lila and me coming and going from the condo I was sitting in.
When did I become so lax? I didn’t even notice it happened, so blissed out with Lila the threat that hung over me wasn’t even a blip on my radar.
I’d tried to live a life, be happy, start over with the woman I loved.
“Nate, you there?” Tom’s voice rang out through the receiver.
“Y-yeah, I’m here.”
“We’ve gotten three of his men arrested and are close to getting him. The files have been instrumental to that. Not much longer.”
My hand rubbed over my face. “I don’t know if it’ll be soon enough.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
I swallowed hard. “They know I’m helping you.”
“How?”
“They know.”
I hung up the phone and clenched my shaking hand into a fist. My eyes scrunched closed, and I tried to hold it in, but that was impossible. I swung out, hitting the lamp on my desk and sending it smashing into the wall.
I yelled, hard and harsh, the sound bouncing around. Anger coursed through me. I stood up and tossed my chair across the room. Every
muscle was tight as I searched for more to destroy, to quell the overwhelming pain consuming me.
I wanted Lila to be mine in every way, and she was going to pay the price for my selfishness with her life.
Should we stay, or should we run? They’d still find us, so we’d only be delaying the inevitable, but there was always the small chance they wouldn’t. There was also the fact that my family would be put in danger.
It was the end of days.
I picked up something from my desk and hurled it, indifferent to what it was, then found another object. I was lost in a sea of destruction, searching for the way, pushing past it all. A chair leg in my hand crunched as it slammed into the monitor, cracking through the photos and turning it black.
I then took it to the walls, beating them in as I begged a higher power to take it all away.
“Nate?” Lila stood in the doorway, staring at me.
I stopped, my breath coming out in heavy pants, and looked around. Papers, glass, and wood splinters were spread out all around me.
I said I would protect her with my life, and the fates were going to take me up on my offer.
The light faded, sun setting off in the distance.
Lila and I were sitting on the balcony, only it wasn’t the balcony on our condo. It was the deck in my backyard in Carmel—which was odd, because I’d never taken Lila there. I didn’t even own the house anymore—it sold two years ago.
I hadn’t even lived in it since before the accident. I couldn’t after Grace died.
Two stories, nearly four thousand square feet, over a half acre lot—suburbia.
Lila smiled at me, her hand running over her baby bump. She sipped her lemonade and stared out at the sunset. I reached out and ran my fingers down her arm.
A shiver ran through me as her image flickered, changing. Blue eyes turned to me—Grace.
“Do you really think it will be any different this time?”
“What?”
“Miscarriage after miscarriage—do you really think that will change with Lila?”
The scenery shifted, the sky darkened, and I was in my condo. Moonlight filtered in, exposing the starkness that was life before Lila.